Pre-Holiday Tournament (Boys)

Pre-Holiday+Tournament+%28Boys%29

Nick Ryan, Staff Writer

The Pre-Holiday Tournament was filled with many great games and a lot of shocking upsets as teams competed through the whole week. The eight teams included Beebe, Lonoke, Jacksonville Lighthouse, Little Rock Catholic, Searcy, Mountain Home, Pulaski Academy and our very own Cabot Panthers.

The Tournament started as the Lonoke Jackrabbits took on the Beebe Badgers. Lonokes great backcourt in Tony Bryant and Isaiah Thomas performed well as both combined for 26 points, but Bryant of the two carried the dynamic duo with 21 of the 26. Beebe’s seniors EJ Smith and Caleb Barrentine were able to lead the Badgers to a 48-43 win over Lonoke. Barrentine finished with 4 three pointers in the win.

The Cabot Panthers faced the Jacksonville Lighthouse Wolves later that night. The Panther’s new offensive system place in effect against this athletic Lighthouse team. The play of juniors Jackson Muse, Seth Vance and De’kairo Rudolph helped the Panthers head to the second round of the Tournament in the winners bracket as they defeated the wolves 55-30. Muse was the leading scorer for the Panthers will 11 followed by De’kairo Rudolph with 9. The second round winners bracket set was as Cabot would host the badgers.

“This game meant a lot to me as a player,” junior De’kairo Rudolph said. “Playing against the team I played for before I came to Cabot definitely set a different spark in my game.” Rudolph said.

The second day of the tournament would kick off with a matchup of the Searcy Lions taking on the 7A conference rival of Cabot, the Little Rock Catholic Rockets. The Rockets started off strong with the play of juniors Chase Daniel and Jordan Edington. Edington coming off the bench for Catholic played a great role for the team as he was the leading scorer with 12. It was the Searcy Lions though, who were able to come out with a win against Catholic 45-39. Senior Guard Peyton Caldwell led all scorers with 15 points.

The first game of the second round loser bracket would then follow as Lonoke would take on Jacksonville lighthouse. Lonoke would play without either Tony Bryant or Isaiah Thomas. Lighthouse would go to halftime with a 27-17 led, but the Jackrabbits fought back in the second half with Senior Tyrique Jackson. Jackson finished with 29 points keeping their tournament alive with a win over Lighthouse 55-46.

The next day, the boys bracket started with a back and forth matchup against Pulaski Academy and Mountain Home. Mountain home was down early in the game, but brought the game within a few in the fourth quarter with the play of Sophomore Wyatt Gilbert who finished with 14 points for the Bombers. Junior EJ Anderson and Senior Grayson Koller led the Bruins to a 57-46 win over the Bombers. Anderson would finish the game with 20 points, leading all scorers.

The Panthers would then host the Beebe Badgers in the semi-finals. The winner of this game would head to the championship game Saturday. The game started off close, but the Panthers with their fast tempo offense this year took control of the game in the second half. Juniors Jacob Hudson, Seth Vance and Weston Vaught, who combined for 38 points led the Panthers to another 25 point win against the Badger 65-40. Hudson was the leading scorer with 16 and Vance at a close second with 14 points.

“The atmosphere of the game was different than the first game,” Junior Jacob Hudson said. “The energy from the fans and the team was more electrifying and the offense and defense worked effectively. I can’t wait to turn up with my team in the Championship game.” Hudson said.

Catholic took on the Bombers of Mountain Home, as the winner would play in the 5th place game against Lonoke. Mountain Home looked impressive after three quarters beating the Rockets 20-13. The Rockets fought their way back in the game, as Junior Parker Lloyd had 12 points. Catholic was able to take the win and keep their tournament journey continuing beating the Bombers 34-31.

The Searcy Lions faced up against the Bruins of Pulaski Academy to see who would meet the Panthers in the championship game. The Bruins found ways to find their bigs inside as Sophomore Griffin Newby and Senior Alex Brogdon had phenomenal games. Newby finished with 12 and Brogdon led the Bruins in scoring with 16 points. The Lions used their guards to get back into the game as Senior Peyton Caldwell and Junior Freddy Hicks combined for 38 points. Searcy would take on the Panther in the championship game beating the Bruins 58-56.

The Last day of the tournament for the boys bracket started with a down to the wire fifth place game as Lonoke took on Catholic. Lonoke struggled in the first half, but came out as a whole new team in the second as Senior Tyrique Jackson led the team back in the game. Jackson finished with 24 points. With just five seconds left in the game, Jackson was called for goaltend giving the Rockets the lead. Jackson missed a last second three point shot, as the Rockets would place fifth beating the Jackrabbits 45-44. Catholic’s Junior Brian Flanagan finished with 14 points.

In the third place game, the Badges would face the Bruins. Senior EJ Smith played great all tournament including this game as he finished with 13 points. The Bruins showing there team chemistry and distribution played in effect as almost four of their five starters were in double digits in points. Senior Grayson Koller with 11 points, lead the Bruins in scoring and a third place finish beating Beebe 46-41.

The championship game of the boys bracket featured the Searcy Lions and the Panthers. The Panthers started the game off strong with 7-0 lead in the first quarter with a couple of layups by Junior Weston Vaught. The Panthers were able to maintain a lead in game, until the third quarter as the Lions took their first lead off Senior Peyton Caldwells first basket of the game. The Lions went on a run of their own, but Junior Seth Vance made a clutch jump shot at the end of the third and step back three pointer to tied the game back up in the fourth. Senior Tristan Alcorn for Searcy showed his offensive game throughout the night, as he ended up with 13 points. The Panthers were led by Juniors Jacob Hudson, who finished with 13 and De’Kairo Rudolph, who came off the bench and led Cabot in scoring with 18. The Panthers were able to pull off the win and become the 2018 Pre-Holiday Classic Tournament Champions.

“This was a great tournament for all of us overall,” Junior Seth Vance said. “It showed us our strengths and weaknesses, and will help us as we head into the biggest part of our season.” Vance said.

Congratulations to the Boys on another first place tournament finish. If the Panther continue to play like they have this year so far, then the Panthers have a high potential to make it far in the year bad potentially get back to the State Championship.